By the time Zohran Mamdani stepped into the West Wing, the word hanging over him had already been weaponized. Staffers spoke in the dry language of spreadsheets and federal grants, but each innocuous phrase carried an unspoken question: would he retreat from the label others had turned into a warning sign, or dare to redefine it in the heart of official Washington?

Outside, Democrats who had voted for the resolution hoped their distance would shield them from attack ads and donor fury. Inside his own coalition, organizers and tenants watched more closely than any cable show, measuring whether Mamdani’s compromises would be tactical or existential. His real test would not be that first meeting, but the months to come: when broken elevators, police overtime, and rent hikes collided with his promises, and “socialism” stopped being theory and started looking like bus schedules, eviction notices, and who got to feel safe walking home.